Sunday, January 20, 2013

Christmas in Huntsville

We celebrated Christmas with my dad and his side of our family in Huntsville, where my grandparents live. My dad's sisters and some of their kiddos joined us as well. Even before moving to Korea when we lived in the U.S., we all lived quite the distance from each other so, unfortunately, we didn't see each other as much as we would like. For that reason, it's lovely when we do get to spend a little time together.

On the way to my grandparents' house as you drive up I-45 North, you can see the humongous statue of Sam Houston. It's basically a big ole Texas welcome, and you know you're officially in Huntsville when you drive past him. Whether it's night or day, you can't miss him! We drove up at night, and you could see Sam glowing from very far away.

Both of the following pictures are from www.houstonfreeways.com, and it shows you the statue during the day as well as in comparison to the size of cars driving by.

When we got to my grandparents' house, my dad took the boys and their cousin Addison outside to see the dogs in the garage. They somehow talked him into going across the street to look at the neighbor's Christmas lights and decorations (I'm sure they didn't have to twist his arm too much!). Little did they know that the neighbor would pull into their driveway as they're helping themselves to looking at the decorations up close and personal, one by one. Ha! Thank goodness they thought those three kiddos were cute. ;)

They spent the next couple hours playing together and running all over Mamaw & Papaw's house. C & P are my grandparents' only great grandchildren, so I think it's really cool to have so many generations hanging out together.

Connar was acting as Papaw's assistant when he went in the garage to fix the hot water heater.

Addison pretended to drive Parker around. Check out that beautiful smile with those two front teeth missing!

It's a good thing the boys' admiration for Addison was mutual, because they were all over her.

How cute are they trying to fix the dishwasher together???

I was counting on some of my Papaw's pancakes, and he didn't disappoint. He does it up right every time we're there in the morning. Yum!

My grandparents live on a golf course, so there is plenty of room for the kids to run around in the backyard. It was such a beautiful day too, which meant the kids spent lots of time out there playing to their hearts' content!

C found a water bottle and thought the dog needed more water in her bowl. How thoughtful!

This makes me smile so big, because I can just hear his giggle while he tried to squirm away. :)

Seriously... How stinkin' precious are they? My heart swells with such love for these little guys of mine.

Connar insisted on taking the lid off of his cup so he could have a big cup like Addison. She even let him have a drink from her cup, and he was over the moon about that so much that he told me weeks later, "Mommy, I drink out of Addison's cup." :)

WHAT. A. DOLL!

My dad and my stepmom, Esther, recently got a new chocolate lab they named Jazz. She is so soft and has the prettiest green eyes. The boys had a ball playing with her!

playing tag and hide & seek

Uncle Ryan FINALLY showed up to play with them outside. The boys adore him and would just eat up all of his time if he let him.

Parker playing peek-a-boo with Paw Paw

My dad can make a mean turkey!

Look who the kiddos talked into taking them back across the street to look at the neighbors' Christmas lights the next day! :)

a few deer pranced on by while we were outside and some men were playing the nearby hole

Present time!!!

I think this may be the only gift Parker actually opened for himself. He was too busy to be concerned with opening other gifts and was more interested in playing with the toys once Connar unwrapped them for him. :)

Paw Paw opening one of the boys' toys. I have noticed that some toy makers have made getting toys out of boxes easier than when I was little, but some of them still require bolt cutters and a saw to break it open.

My dad and my Mamaw

This is one of my favorite pictures of all of us in a long time. It's too bad a few people were missing. But look, when you have a big family, I get that it's really difficult and sometimes impossible to get everyone in one place at one time. I'm just so thankful that we were able to see these people and get to hug so many family members' necks. Merry Christmas, everyone!